Jove
Visualize
Contact Us
JoVE
x logofacebook logolinkedin logoyoutube logo
ABOUT JoVE
OverviewLeadershipBlogJoVE Help Center
AUTHORS
Publishing ProcessEditorial BoardScope & PoliciesPeer ReviewFAQSubmit
LIBRARIANS
TestimonialsSubscriptionsAccessResourcesLibrary Advisory BoardFAQ
RESEARCH
JoVE JournalMethods CollectionsJoVE Encyclopedia of ExperimentsArchive
EDUCATION
JoVE CoreJoVE BusinessJoVE Science EducationJoVE Lab ManualFaculty Resource CenterFaculty Site
Terms & Conditions of Use
Privacy Policy
Policies

Related Concept Videos

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by
Same author

Proteomic profiling identifies <i>SMARCA1</i> as a stage-specific epigenetic regulator of colorectal cancer metastasis through MMP modulation.

Genes & diseases·2026
Same author

RIMTAC: A Novel Degrader Design Platform by Indirect VHL-Recruitment via RIPK1.

Journal of medicinal chemistry·2026
Same author

Unique Cysteine-Directed Covalent Inhibition of PRMT1 Suppresses Breast Tumorigenesis.

Journal of medicinal chemistry·2026
Same author

Virial stress in systems of active Brownian particles in the presence of translational and rotational inertia.

The Journal of chemical physics·2026
Same author

Cytoskeleton-regulated condensation of integral membrane proteins during cell adhesion.

Biophysical journal·2026
Same author

Analytical analysis of the conformational and rheological properties of flexible active polar linear polymers under shear flow.

The Journal of chemical physics·2025

Related Experiment Video

Updated: Mar 14, 2026

Induction of Cellular Differentiation and Single Cell Imaging of Vibrio parahaemolyticus Swimmer and Swarmer Cells
08:38

Induction of Cellular Differentiation and Single Cell Imaging of Vibrio parahaemolyticus Swimmer and Swarmer Cells

Published on: May 15, 2017

9.8K

Bacterial swarmer cells in confinement: a mesoscale hydrodynamic simulation study.

Thomas Eisenstecken1, Jinglei Hu2, Roland G Winkler1

  • 1Theoretical Soft Matter and Biophysics, Institute for Advanced Simulation and Institute of Complex Systems, Forschungszentrum Jülich, D-52425 Jülich, Germany. t.eisenstecken@fz-juelich.de r.winkler@fz-juelich.de.

Soft Matter
|October 8, 2016
PubMed
Summary

Swarming bacteria like E. coli change shape and behavior when confined. Their cell distribution and movement depend on the gap size between walls, shifting from geometry- to fluid-dominated dynamics.

More Related Videos

Author Spotlight: Studying Bacterial Growth in 3D Hydrogel Matrices
05:46

Author Spotlight: Studying Bacterial Growth in 3D Hydrogel Matrices

Published on: January 19, 2024

3.5K
Quantifying Bacterial Surface Swarming Motility on Inducer Gradient Plates
05:57

Quantifying Bacterial Surface Swarming Motility on Inducer Gradient Plates

Published on: January 5, 2022

4.4K

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: Mar 14, 2026

Induction of Cellular Differentiation and Single Cell Imaging of Vibrio parahaemolyticus Swimmer and Swarmer Cells
08:38

Induction of Cellular Differentiation and Single Cell Imaging of Vibrio parahaemolyticus Swimmer and Swarmer Cells

Published on: May 15, 2017

9.8K
Author Spotlight: Studying Bacterial Growth in 3D Hydrogel Matrices
05:46

Author Spotlight: Studying Bacterial Growth in 3D Hydrogel Matrices

Published on: January 19, 2024

3.5K
Quantifying Bacterial Surface Swarming Motility on Inducer Gradient Plates
05:57

Quantifying Bacterial Surface Swarming Motility on Inducer Gradient Plates

Published on: January 5, 2022

4.4K

Area of Science:

  • Microbiology
  • Biophysics
  • Computational Biology

Background:

  • Peritrichous bacteria exhibit swarming, a collective migration on surfaces.
  • Swarming involves significant physiological changes, including increased cell length and flagella.
  • Understanding bacterial behavior in confined environments is crucial for various applications.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the properties of individual E. coli swarmer cells confined between parallel walls.
  • To analyze the effects of wall separation on flagella arrangement, cell distribution, and dynamics.
  • To elucidate the transition from geometry-dominated to fluid-dominated behaviors in confined bacterial migration.

Main Methods:

  • Mesoscale hydrodynamic simulations were employed.
  • Combined molecular dynamics of swarmer cells with multiparticle collision dynamics for fluid simulation.
  • Varied wall separation to study confinement effects.

Main Results:

  • E. coli swarmer cells are three times longer than planktonic cells with comparable flagella density.
  • Confinement showed a weak dependence on flagella bundle structure and dynamics.
  • Cell distribution shifted from the gap center (narrow gaps) to near walls (wider gaps).

Conclusions:

  • Bacterial cell distribution in confined spaces transitions from geometry- to fluid-dominated regimes.
  • Migration behaviors, including straight swimming and wall rolling, depend on flagella arrangement.
  • Simulations provide insights into bacterial dynamics under spatial constraints.